When it comes to hiring minority head coaches this offseason, the NFL struck out.

None of the eight head coaches hired since the 2012 season's end is African-American. That's disturbing. Not because there must be a certain percentage of minorities hired every year. Not because any of the eight coaches hired is unqualified.

Cardinals offensive coordinator Ray Horton fails to land the head coaching job with his own team. (AP Photo)

It's disturbing because the NFL is trending toward offensive-minded coaches and very few members of minorities call the shots on offense. Seven of the eight coaches hired this offseason have offensive backgrounds. The lone exception is Gus Bradley, the former defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks who was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Meanwhile, there is one minority offensive coordinator— Jim Caldwell of the Baltimore Ravens.

So many times you hear, "We want a coach who can develop quarterbacks. We want a coach who is an offensive guru or innovator." If few minority NFL coaches are decision-makers on offense, then very few members of minorities will get the call to become head coaches in the current climate.

The lack of minority candidates ascending the NFL offensive coaching ladder must be addressed.

"Yes, I'm disappointed," John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, told Sporting News during a Friday telephone interview. Wooten's organization is charged with promoting equality of job opportunity in the NFL. "We have some ideas that we're going to present to the league office.''

There are three black head coaches in the NFL right now. Some want to call this a cyclical thing, but consider this: Mike Tomlin is the most recent African-American head coach to be hired from outside the hiring team's organization. That was in 2007. Every other African-American coach hired since then was already on that team's coaching staff.

Wooten said he thought Stanford coach David Shaw would have been an excellent African-American candidate. However, Shaw preferred to remain at Stanford, and he reaffirmed that by signing a contract extension.

With Shaw out of the picture, African-American coaching candidates were shut out.

Ray Horton, the well-respected defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals, was reportedly livid at being passed over by his team, which hired Bruce Arians on Thursday night. According to XTRA 910 in Phoenix, Horton got into a heated exchanged with new Cardinals general manager Steve Keim on Thursday.

When Mike McCoy — reportedly a leading candidate for the Cardinals job — was hired as San Diego Chargers coach, Horton thought the Cardinals' job was his. It wasn't.

Wooten believes Horton's anger is justified.

"I know how disappointing this whole thing is to Ray, the way he went down," Wooten said. "He waited and waited. He was continually told that he was in the hunt. When McCoy went to San Diego, he thought he was in great shape. He has every right to feel neglected or whatever you want to call it."

The NFL can't justifiably ignore the absence of minority head-coaching hires. There should be closer attention paid moving forward to how many minority wide receiver coaches, running back coaches and quarterback coaches are being promoted to offensive coordinators, from where they can advance to become head coaches.

Robert Gulliver, the NFL's executive vice president of human resources, released the following statement Friday:

"While there has been full compliance with the interview requirements of the Rooney Rule and we wish the new head coaches and general managers much success, the hiring results this year have been unexpected and reflect a disappointing lack of diversity. The Rooney Rule has been a valuable tool in expanding diversity and inclusion in hiring practices, but there is more work to do, especially around increasing and strengthening the pipeline of diverse candidates for head coach and senior football executive positions. We have already started the process of developing a plan for additional steps that will better ensure more diversity and inclusion on a regular basis in our hiring results."

Earlier, Wooten said: "We think we have some ideas on how to put more guys in the pipeline. I don't want to discuss those ideas until we put them in front of the league."

Right now, offensive coaches are hot, even if they come from college like Chip Kelly (Philadelphia Eagles) or Doug Marrone (Buffalo Bills). Listen to what ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer said on a conference call Thursday. Dilfer was not asked directly about the absence of minority hiring, but he said the perception of offensive coaches having an edge on the job market was true.

"Owners are fans, right?" Dilfer said. "Owners get caught up in the same things fans get caught up in: perception. They're trying to sell tickets. They figure that an offensive-driven team, with the way the rules are set up in the league right now, is the best formula.

"The best head coaches see things from 30,000 feet, whether they have an offensive or defensive background. Gus, specifically — I think he's one of those guys. Some of these other guys that have been hired, yes, they have offensive pedigrees. And maybe why they're attractive is because in the interview process, in their formula for building a team, they're a little more aggressive, a little more cutting edge, a little more willing to think outside the box. For the most part, defensive-minded coaches think in the box a little bit more than offensive coaches."

That trend toward offense has hurt minority coaches with defensive backgrounds. It hurt Perry Fewell, the New York Giants' defensive coordinator who won a Super Bowl last February. It hurt Lovie Smith, who was fired by the Chicago Bears after a 10-win season and was frozen out in this year's job market.

The major knock on Smith was his failure to reach the playoffs five of the past six seasons, coupled with the Bears' inconsistent offensive play. However, Smith also went to a Super Bowl during his tenure, and his record the past three seasons was 29-19. In nine years with the Bears, he was 81-63.

"With Lovie, I'm shocked," Wooten said. "He has an outstanding overall record as a head coach and can't get a job."

This has been a captivating season on the field, featuring dynamic young quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson. Those three forced people to think outside the box on how the quarterback position can be played.

However, the league's minority hiring practices took a turn that should not be ignored. Offensively, more teams are thinking outside the box. But African-American coaches were left on the outside of that box, unable to get in.